


The Future is not set in Stone

by I_am_the_Muse



Category: Agent Carter (Marvel Short Film), Captain America (Movies), Margaret 'Peggy' Carter, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types
Genre: Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 01:09:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1623569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_am_the_Muse/pseuds/I_am_the_Muse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'The soldier turned his intense gaze on the mechanic, and Howard got the strange sense that his life was suddenly in danger. Obviously this soldier was a dangerous man, and not to be trusted. And it had nothing to do with the way the soldier’s grip on Peggy’s arm seemed to minutely tighten.'<br/>----<br/>Agent Margaret Carter's been keeping a secret. His name is Alan Lavey. He's not at all what you'd expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet Alan Lavey

The mechanic looked upon the scene before with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was all for not wallowing in the past and moving on from tragic events, but if he were honest with himself he thought Agent Carter’s actions were just plain insensitive.

It had been a year since the Captain’s fall, but the way she was so familiar with the brown-haired soldier she was showing around the base just didn’t sit well with him at all. The way the sun was setting behind them, casting Peggy in beautiful red and orange hues, and the way that the soldier stared intensely at her, as if she was the only thing that mattered. It was all too romantic for his liking. He still believed Steve was alive, and he was gonna be damn sure to remind everyone of that fact. Even if it meant scolding Peggy in front of her new man-friend.

“Agent Carter!” he called out in his usual cheerful tone. Her face paled for a moment but she seemed to compose herself before turning around and smiling brilliantly at him. If Steve wasn’t such a good friend he really would create a new meaning to the word ‘fondue’. But he respects her too much to act say anything out loud.

The soldier turned his intense gaze on the mechanic, and Howard got the strange sense that his life was suddenly in danger. Obviously this soldier was a dangerous man, and not to be trusted. And it had nothing to do with the way the soldier’s grip on Peggy’s arm seemed to minutely tighten.

“Mr Stark! It’s so good to see you,” she said with ease, leaving the soldier’s grip for the moment to walk a few steps forward and held out her hand for him to shake.

“You are looking wonderful Peggy – oh, Agent Carter,” he replied cheekily and gave her a light handshake, “Who’s your, eh, friend over there, Peggy?”

He makes sure to give the soldier the stink-eye, a very clear way of saying just what he thinks of him, and he completely ignores the fact that he’d decided to hate the man without even hearing him speak. Maybe he’s an alright guy; still doesn’t give him the right to schmooze with Steve’s girl.

“Oh, this is my cousin,” she said, a little too brightly, and waved for him to step forward. The soldier mimics her movements; same winning smile same light handshake. He movements seemed practiced, as if he were an actor who hadn’t yet managed to get into character.

“Corporal Alan Lavey, sir,” the soldier – Alan – answered in place of Peggy, and placed his hands behind his back, his feet spread apart all accompanied with a look of militant authority. He wasn’t exactly the highest ranking, but he certainly looked the part.

He had brown, soft looking hair – much like Agent Carter – and brown eyes like hers as well. His accent was the same, though his voice held far more steel than Peggy could ever had hoped for. His uniform appeared a little too large on his frame. Howard imagined his body type would be more like his own; muscled but in a more lean unassuming way. Alan’s smile was gone, this time replaced with a stink-eye that rivalled Howard’s. Evidently he was not happy at being judged so harshly so quickly.

“A cousin, eh? You didn’t mention him before,” Howard said, slightly more genuine now that he realised the soldier wasn’t out to sweep Peggy off her feet. Not that he’d let his incorrect conclusion bring him down. It wasn’t the first time he’d been wrong after all.

“Haven’t I?” she questioned innocently, with a small frown, “Well, I haven’t seen him since the war began, so as you can imagine I had other things on my mind. Alan is new in town and I was simply showing him around. He’s taken quite an interest in all the goings-on in fact.”

Howard nodded along with her. SHIELD was still fairly new at this stage, and they were still looking for trusted men and women to join the ranks. If Peggy trusted him, then he supposed that it was something he could look into.

“Oh yeah? He got any smarts on him or is he more of a leg-work kinda guy?” he asked, wondering if the man would be saying anything other than his name. He still had that strange intense look on his face, and frankly it was making Howard just a little uncomfortable. Not that he would show it, of course. He had a reputation to uphold.

“I was honoured for my work in the field,” Corporal Lavey answered. His voice is monotonous, wooden even, “I work well under pressure, Mr Stark, and there isn’t a fight I can’t win.”

Howard isn’t sure how Corporal Lavey manages to say all of that without coming across as conceited or egotistical. Obviously, the mechanic needed a few pointers.

“Well, that answers that question,” he joked, chuckling lightly. Peggy smiles a little and Alan looks down at her before mimicking the same smile perfectly. It was all very odd in Howard’s opinion. What’s even more odd is the way the man’s face falls into the blank state he was using before. Now Howard wasn’t sure if that glare of his was intense or just incredibly empty. The man seemed soulless;  
evidently an exemplary soldier that followed orders, but soulless none the less.

“Well I’m sure we probably could a find a place for you somewhere, if you’re in need of a job, son,” Howard hedged a little uncertainly. Peggy seemed delighted at the idea and looked at him gratefully. She was obviously concerned for her dear cousin whom she hadn’t seen for years. The least he could do was help her out for mistaking her cousin for her lover.

“Thank you, Howard. I’m sure Corporal Lavey is eager to see what our organisation is all about, aren’t you Alan?” she asked looking up at said cousin imploringly.

“Eager, Mr Stark,” he replied.

Howard looked between the two before loosening his tie and waving for the fairly odd pair to follow him towards the stairs leading underneath his house to the ‘secret room’. It was recently built, still needing some finishing touches before it was ready for more ‘guests’. It was good enough for his purposes, for now at least.

“Welcome to SHIELD, Agent, Corporal,” he said as the entered the main area. He spread his arms to encompass the whole room and just stopped short of short of yelling out ‘ta-da’ at his apparent masterpiece.

“It’s a start, Mr Stark,” Peggy said, her smile all the more genuine now. Alan remained emotionless, but his eyes were trained on Peggy as if he thought that she might disappear if he didn’t keep his eyes on her.

“This is just for now. We’re planning on building some new places back on the old SSR training area. You know, with the memory of Steve so close? We think it might remind everyone of our ultimate goal in this organisation,” Howard said proudly and strutted across to the large table in the middle of the room and sat on it, looking at Alan and Peggy expectantly.

“So Peggy never mentioned you on her phone call to let us know she was on her way. When exactly did you guys get the chance to meet up?”

Agent Carter appeared to have to actually think about this before answering. It would seem she was deciding what he needed to know, and what he wouldn’t question if she said it out loud.

“It was actually during my last mission – you remember that one don’t you?”

“Yes,” he replied, a small smile on his face. He would have paid money to see her commanding officer’s face, “You met him on your mission?”

“Sort of bumped into him actually, on my way back to HQ. It’s, uh, a little complicated, Howard,” she said with a nervous laugh and looked back at Alan as if he was going to help her in some way. His face didn’t change at all, but Howard could have sworn he saw the man’s eyebrow’s hitch just the slightly bit, prompting the Agent to answer.

“Why don’t you start with the mission? I wanna hear all about it.”


	2. A Simple Mission

ONE WEEK EARLIER

 

Agent Carter smiled to herself as she walked out of the building. It was a successful mission, and at that point she didn’t care if she’d disobeyed orders. She was a good agent, and she refused to let Flynn keep her down.

She was walking back to HQ, where she would return the item she had found. It was dark, and the street lamps barely offered enough light for it to be considered safe. Luckily for her, she could more than take care of herself, as those 8 henchmen had found out. She was confident that whoever was following her could easily be dissuaded, should they try something untoward.

She smirked to herself and turned into an alleyway and walked towards the dead-end she knew she’d find. She heard the man – because the sound of his footsteps was too heavy to be a woman’s – stop at the lip of the alleyway, and the lamp light cast an eerie shadow around him. She turned, trying to take in his features, but the light blacked out his face. He was broad-shouldered and tall, whoever he was, and he walked towards her with slow, certain steps.

“Stop right where you are,” she snapped, and pulled out her gun but didn’t aim it at the man just yet. She didn’t want to come off as anti-social, after all.

The man stopped, and by now she could tell that he was a soldier, judging by his uniform, and he had short dark blond hair. She brought a hand up to try and block out the glare of the street light. The blond soldier took advantage and stepped closer before Agent Carter let loose a few warning shots at the man’s feet, stopping him in his tracks.

“Peggy, please,” he said, his voice hoarse and rough, as if he hadn’t used it for some time.

Agent Carter’s gun fell from her hand and her body went limp. She leant against the wall behind her as tears streaked down her face at the sudden familiarity of that voice. The man walked forward, and she could finally see his face. Bright blue eyes set in a strong, handsome face, his lips turned down as he called out to her with concern laced in his voice.

“Peggy, please,” he said again when he reached her and wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs.

“ _Steve_?” It came out breathy and pained and disbelieving. Steve smiled at her, almost looked as if he were about to cry tears of joy himself. “Is it really you, Steve?”

“Yes, Peggy,” he said, his voice sounding more sure. Hands ran down her shoulders, proving that he was really here, that he was really real. They returned to cup her face and force her to look up at him. “Sorry I was late. But I made it.”

She let out a watery laugh and finally stood up to bring her hands hand to his face and pull him towards her. He obliged and she kissed him, the feel of his skin bringing back memories of the first time she’d done this.

Steve didn’t respond at all. His mouth stayed closed in the small, shy smile he’d been wearing before; he’d barely moved from the position she’d forced him into; she couldn’t feel his breath fanning across her face.

Peggy pushed him away gently, and he moved slightly. His face was still perfectly frozen. Only his hands moved to cover her throat and very slowly tighten around it.

“Steve!” she choked out, thinking that this man could not be Steve. He had his eyes and his smile and his uniform, but Steve Rogers would never hurt her like this. The look-a-like kept squeezing his hand, blocking the air to her brain. She felt as though he was trying to crush her throat completely, not just starve her of oxygen.

She tried to fight back; she clawed at the hands at her throat until her fingers came back covered in his throat; she dragged her nails across his neck and his cheeks, marring that perfectly pale skin he once had. This man felt no pain, his hand simply grew tighter and tighter around her throat. She would pass out soon, she knew it.

She’d just completed a mission, she still had the serum to return! Perhaps, this time at least, she really _should_ have waited until she could take more men. Not that it mattered any more.

She was ashamed of the tears that tripped onto his hands. Not ashamed that she was crying, but ashamed that she did so because she felt so betrayed. She hadn’t seen Steve Rogers in over a year and it ate away at her. Finally he’d come back, come back to dance with her like he’d promise and now she would die by his hands.

No, not Steve Rogers. By this monster that stole his skin.

Another hand reached over the look-a-like’s face and dug into his cheek hard enough to draw blood. The hand drew back, tearing the skin away completely and distracting the man making him loosen his grip enough that Peggy could draw breath again.

His face. _His face_.

“Oh my _lord_ ,” she breathed out, as her true would-be killer was revealed to her.

His face, the skin, was completely gone, but underneath; underneath when she _should_ be seeing stark white bones, she saw gleaming bloody metal. A machine. A machine made to _look_ like a man, to look like Captain America. His eyes were not blue, but red. They looked like two red lights set into his metal skull.

The machine was suddenly pulled away from her, presumably by the person who’d save her, and she watched as her saviour kicked the machine so hard that it became embedded in the wall and stopped moving completely.

Peggy looked up uncertainly at her saviour and studied him even as she breathed in uneven breaths.

He was tall, but not as tall as Steve, and had brown hair and dark brown eyes. His build was strong, but in a lean more wiry sort of way than Steve had been. He was meant for speed and stealth, rather than sheer brute strength. But judging by the way he had taken down her assailant so easily, there was evidently more to him than it appeared.

He turned to look at her, all crumpled up on the ground as she was, and he held out her hand, staring down at her intensely.

“Come with me, if you want to live.”

 

XXXX

 

“Why don’t you start with the mission? I wanna hear all about it.”

Peggy was silent for a moment as she sorted out her answer, but a plausible one was easy enough to come up with considering she had been preparing for this since she came across her ‘cousin’.

“Oh, the mission was easy enough. There was only a slight setback when someone didn’t know how to count properly, but I managed just fine without the estimated 5 agents required,” she said with her usual charm, easing any suspicions Howard might have. “Obviously, there are some that underestimate the competency of some of my former colleagues. Or perhaps not?”

Howard laughed at that, but the curious look on his face left, and he seemed to believe her for the moment.

“Well, I’m glad. I’m pretty sure that SHIELD will be sending you on a whole lot more missions,” he said, and seemed to completely ignore Corporal Lavey, “And best of all, you get to play around with all the new toys I’m inventing. Why don’t I show what I’ve got made up so far?”

Howard walked away without waiting for their answers. Corporal Lavey merely looked at Agent Carter, waiting for her decision. She simply shrugged, and followed the eccentric tinkerer so he could show them all of his hobbies.


End file.
